How Economic Downturns Affect Children's Development: An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Pathways of Influence

Gassman‐Pines, Anna; Gibson‐Davis, Christina M.; Ananat, Elizabeth Oltmans

doi:10.1111/cdep.12137

Cited by 30 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Our findings provide further evidence for the contention that the Great Recession may have adversely affected parents, even if they themselves did not experience economic hardship (Gassman-Pines, Gibson-Davis, & Ananat, 2015). Indeed, our results indicate that widespread economic uncertainty—as measured by the CSI and local unemployment rates—may have increased mothers’ harsh parenting practices.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

The Great Recession and risk for child abuse and neglect

Schneider

Waldfogel

Brooks‐Gunn

2017

Children and Youth Services Review

153

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This paper examines the association between the Great Recession and four measures of the risk for maternal child abuse and neglect: (1) maternal physical aggression; (2) maternal psychological aggression; (3) physical neglect by mothers; and (4) supervisory/exposure neglect by mothers. It draws on rich longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal birth cohort study of families in 20 U.S. cities (N = 3,177; 50% African American, 25% Hispanic; 22% non-Hispanic white; 3% other). The study collected information for the 9-year follow-up survey before, during, and after the Great Recession (2007-2010). Interview dates were linked to two macroeconomic measures of the Great Recession: the national Consumer Sentiment Index and the local unemployment rate. Also included are a wide range of socio-demographic controls, as well as city fixed effects and controls for prior parenting. Results indicate that the Great Recession was associated with increased risk of child abuse but decreased risk of child neglect. Households with social fathers present may have been particularly adversely affected. Results also indicate that economic uncertainty during the Great Recession, as measured by the Consumer Sentiment Index and the unemployment rate, had direct effects on the risk of abuse or neglect, which were not mediated by individual-level measures of economic hardship or poor mental health.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

The Great Recession and risk for child abuse and neglect

Schneider

Waldfogel

Brooks‐Gunn

2017

Children and Youth Services Review

153

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…For example, economic downturns can directly affect the economic well-being of families through poverty, a key predictor of child maltreatment behavior (Kalil 2013). However, community-level economic downturns may also influence child maltreatment indirectly by shaping other community-level factors that can, in turn, affect child maltreatment behavior (Gassman-Pines, Gibson-Davis, and Ananat 2015). For example, such economic downturns can increase strains on social services (Black, McKinnish, and Sanders 2003), increase psychological disorders even for those who remain employed (Catalano et al 2011), and increase demands to financially support members of social networks who lost jobs (Mykyta and Macartney 2011; Gottlieb, Pilkauskas, and Garfinkel 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Job Losses and Child Maltreatment: The Importance of Community Context

Schenck‐Fontaine

Gassman‐Pines

Gibson‐Davis

et al. 2017

Social Service Review

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A growing body of literature suggests that economic downturns predict an increase in child maltreatment. However, to inform policies and practices to prevent and intervene in child maltreatment, it is necessary to identify how, when, and under what conditions community-level economic conditions affect child maltreatment. In this study, we use North Carolina administrative data from 2006 to 2011 on child maltreatment reports and job losses to distinguish effects on maltreatment frequency from effects on severity, identify the timing of these effects, and test whether community characteristics moderate these effects. To isolate effects of unanticipated job losses and to control for potential confounding factors, we use a fixed effects regression approach. We find that, though job losses did not affect the frequency of reports, job losses increased the share of reports that were relatively severe. This effect endured for 9 months following job losses and was only evident in economically disadvantaged communities.

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“…Most of these studies rely on repeated cross-sectional data, self-reported anthropometric measurements or a single measure of economic hardship (eg, unemployment). Most prior research uses individual-level employment status, which can be correlated with unobserved traits that also influence health, thus producing misleading associations, and fails to capture changes in spending that occur among families who perceive greater economic uncertainty, but do not actually become unemployed, and among those who have experienced economic hardships, owing to potential losses in investments or a reduction in work hours 10 11. Prior literature is also limited to adults, and few studies have leveraged longitudinal data to compare the same individual to himself or herself over time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of changing economic conditions on overweight risk among children in California from 2008 to 2012

Oddo

Nicholas

Bleich

et al. 2016

J Epidemiol Community Health

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Background The recent economic recession represents an opportunity to test whether decreases in economic resources may have deleterious consequences on childhood overweight/obesity risk. Methods We investigated the association between indicators of changing macroeconomic conditions from 2008–2012 and overweight/obesity risk among school-aged children in California (n=1,741,712) using longitudinal anthropometric measurements. Multivariate regression, with individual and county fixed-effects, was used to examine the effects of annual county-level unemployment and foreclosure rates on risk of child overweight/obesity, overall and among sub-groups (race/ethnicity, sex, county-level median household income, county-level urban/rural status). Results From 2008 to 2012, approximately 38% of children were overweight/obese and unemployment and foreclosure rates averaged 11% and 6.9%, respectively. A 1-percentage point (pp) increase in unemployment was associated with a 1.4 pp (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.3, 1.5) increase in overweight/obesity risk. Therefore, a child of average weight could expect a 14% increase in BMI z-score in association with a 1 pp increase in unemployment during the study period. We found some differences in the magnitude of the effects for unemployment among demographic subgroups, with the largest effects observed for unemployment among American Indians and Pacific Islanders. Conclusion Comparing children to themselves over time, we provide evidence that increases in county-level unemployment are associated with increased overweight/obesity risk. Given that overweight among children with lower economic resources remains a challenge for public health, these findings highlight the importance of policy-level approaches which aim to mitigate the impact of decreased resources as economic conditions change.

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How Economic Downturns Affect Children's Development: An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Pathways of Influence

Cited by 30 publications

References 48 publications

The Great Recession and risk for child abuse and neglect

The Great Recession and risk for child abuse and neglect

Local Job Losses and Child Maltreatment: The Importance of Community Context

The impact of changing economic conditions on overweight risk among children in California from 2008 to 2012

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